Supports – Supporting base
Reexamination Certificate
2000-12-27
2003-09-09
King, Anita (Department: 3632)
Supports
Supporting base
C248S918000, C312S208100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06616113
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the field of computer system enclosures, and in particular, to tower type enclosures.
2. Background Information
As is well understood in the art, computer systems are electrically powered devices and therefore the electrical components are enclosed in a housing to prevent against accidental shock, short-circuiting, contamination, etc. There are a number of housing types in use today. A so-called “tower” case or housing is one known style of housing which is widely used.
The tower case can conveniently be placed on any level surface, such as a desk of floor. However, tower cases are more prone to tipping over than other case designs due to a generally narrow base and higher center of gravity, should the case or the thing it is resting on, e.g., a table, be accidentally bumped into, for example. Because these tower cases are subject to tipping over, placement options may be disadvantageously limited.
To overcome this limitation, the bottom of the tower case may be made wider to provide more stability, however this has the disadvantage that more floor space, or table-top space, will be used by the housing footprint.
Another solution to the stability problem is to add stabilizing structures to the housing bottom. However, in the past, tower case stability reinforcement structure has required some type of fastener disadvantageously requiring use of a tool to put on and take off. These tool-using structures also may require inverting the housing to put on and remove the structure, which is also disadvantageous. They also may require some part to protrude into the housing, thereby disadvantageously impacting the use of the interior of the housing. Further, they may interfere with or require modification or removal of the housing feet.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to have a stabilizing structure for a tower case which does not require a tool to put on and take off, and which does not require inverting of the housing to put on and take off, thereby overcoming problems and limitations of the prior art.
It would further be advantageous to have a structure that could fit into a relatively small space, e.g., a 7 mm space, and not hang below the feet of the housing, thereby allowing the system housing to be moved around by sliding it on the four feet.
Further, it would be advantageous to have a structure that could be secured on the bottom of the system housing and not protrude into the inside of the system.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is, therefore, a principle object of this invention to provide a method and apparatus for tool-less pedestal for a computer system housing.
It is another object of the invention to provide a method and apparatus that solves the above mentioned problems so that a stabilizing structure can be provided without requiring tools to put on and take off, without requiring inverting of the housing to put on and take off, that can fit into a relatively small space without interfering with the housing feet, and which can be secured to the housing without requiring any parts which protrude into the housing.
These and other objects of the present invention are accomplished by the method and apparatus disclosed herein.
According to an aspect of the invention, a tool-less pedestal for a computer system is provided.
According to an aspect of the invention, the tool-less pedestal is provided for seating at the base of a computer system housing to keep it from tipping over.
According to an aspect of the invention, the pedestal can be put on or taken off of the system without any tools.
According to an aspect of the invention, the pedestal fits into a very small space without any fasteners protruding into the inside of the system.
According to an aspect of the invention, the pedestal does not interfere with the feet that the system slides on.
According to an aspect of the invention, a housing arrangement includes a tower-shaped housing having a generally rectangular bottom, the bottom being provided with a plurality of slots extending essentially perpendicularly with respect to the longer sides of the rectangular bottom, and at least one pedestal formed as a planar member having first and second sections, the first section being adapted to removably engage with slots in the bottom of the computer system housing without requiring any tools, and the second section extending from the first section beyond the bottom of the housing when the first section is engaged with the bottom of the housing, whereby the at least one pedestal acts to prevent the tower-shaped housing from tipping over.
These and other aspects of the invention will become apparent from the detailed description set forth below.
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patent: 5020768 (1991-06-01), Hardt et al.
patent: D330021 (1992-10-01), Kline et al.
patent: D338882 (1993-08-01), Reiter
patent: 5263668 (1993-11-01), Reiter
patent: 5388792 (1995-02-01), Hastings et al.
patent: D383728 (1997-09-01), Yurkonis et al.
patent: 5688030 (1997-11-01), McAnally et al.
patent: 5796585 (1998-08-01), Sugiyama et al.
patent: D442967 (2001-05-01), Goto
patent: 6364278 (2002-04-01), Lin et al.
patent: 6460817 (2002-10-01), Bosson
King Anita
Marsh Steven
LandOfFree
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